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The 2023 F1 US GP saw Max Verstappen secure his 15th win of the season. It was not one of the more straightforward races as the Red Bull driver had some braking issues to contend with. Regardless, he was still able to overcome the challenge from Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris.
This feature is, however, not about what happened in the race. It's focussed on the drivers. So how did each driver fare at the 2023 F1 US GP? Let's take a look.
Criteria for rating: When we rate the drivers, there are a few things that we take into consideration.
These are:
- Performance in both qualifying and race
- Results achieved compared to the potential of the car
- How many mistakes were made over the weekend
- Relative performance against their teammate
2023 F1 US GP: Rating the drivers
Red Bull
Max Verstappen
Sprint (Started: 1st, Finished: 1st)
GP (Started: 6th, Finished: 1st)
Rating: 9.5
If we exclude the error in qualifying from Max Verstappen on Friday, it was a perfect weekend for the Red Bull driver.
He dominated the sprint and then when it came to the race on Sunday, it was a measured drive where everything was calculated perfectly and all the issues managed.
This was not a win because of the car, it was the one because of the driver and the team.
Sergio Perez
Sprint (Started: 7th, Finished: 5th)
GP (Started: 9th, Finished: 4th)
Rating: 6
The race did effectively show once again why Red Bull is getting nervous with Sergio Perez as the second driver. The 2023 F1 US GP once again had Max Verstappen fending for himself at the front with his teammate nowhere in the equation.
As the rival teams get more competitive, this is going to become a major source of worry for Red Bull.
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc
Sprint (Started: 2nd, Finished: 3rd)
GP (Started: 1st, Finished: DSQ )
Rating: 8
A strong qualifying, a strong sprint, and then came the 2023 F1 US GP where we saw an innocuous strategy by Ferrari completely derail Charles Leclerc.
The driver was on a one-stop when everyone else around him was on a two-stopper. Leclerc might have to take ownership of a few of these goof-ups because it cannot be all Ferrari's fault.
Carlos Sainz
Sprint (Started: 6th, Finished: 6th)
GP (Started: 4th, Finished: 3rd)
Rating: 8
A weekend where Carlos Sainz got more points than his teammate on the basis of just having common sense. A podium finish for the Spaniard was not what anyone would have expected looking at the pace.
Overall though, another mature drive from the Spaniard at the 2023 F1 US GP.
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton
Sprint (Started: 3rd, Finished: 2nd)
GP (Started: 3rd, Finished: DSQ)
Rating: 9.5
Arguably the best weekend of Lewis Hamilton's 2023 F1 season. The Brit made a statement this weekend after the poor showing in Qatar.
It was an almost flawless weekend from the Mercedes driver and maybe even the win was on the table.
George Russell
Sprint (Started: 11th, Finished: 8th)
GP (Started: 5th, Finished: 7th)
Rating: 7
A shambolic weekend for George Russell as he somehow struggled to keep up with his teammate.
The gap in the spirit as well as in the race was massive and that is something that the Mercedes driver might need to look at the 2023 F1 US GP.
Alpine
Pierre Gasly
Sprint (Started: 9th, Finished: 7th)
GP (Started: 7th, Finished: 6th)
Rating: 8
An overall impressive weekend from Pierre Gasly. He got the job done in both races and had a slight edge over his teammate as well.
A P6 is a strong result for Alpine nevertheless.
Esteban Ocon
Sprint (Started: 13th, Finished: 11th)
GP (Started: 8th, Finished: DNF)
Rating: 5
A somewhat unlucky weekend for Esteban Ocon, the sprint wasn't that good but in the race, he was ahead of Gasly when the sidepod damage killed his race.
A disappointing weekend of the 2023 F1 US GP overall for the French driver.
McLaren
Lando Norris
Sprint (Started: 4th, Finished: 4th)
GP (Started: 2nd, Finished: 2nd)
Rating: 8.5
A pretty consistent and strong performance for the McLaren driver. Maybe a win was possible? Maybe an even better showing in the race was possible where Lewis pipped him.
Overall though, the 2023 F1 US GP is the perfect warm-up for Lando Norris as he gears up for a potential title challenge next season.
Oscar Piastri
Sprint (Started: 5th, Finished: 10th)
GP (Started: 10th, Finished: DNF)
Rating: 4
A poor weekend for Oscar Piastri who could not sort himself out throughout the race weekend.
His main race also ended with a clumsy maneuver at the start and even the sprint was not that impressive.
Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas
Sprint (Started: 18th, Finished: 16th)
GP (Started: 13th, Finished: 12th)
Rating: 5
An anonymous weekend for Valtteri Bottas as once again there was nothing in the car that helped him show what he was capable of.
Alfa Romeo is starting to have a lot of these weekends where the team is just absent from the broadcast. The 2023 F1 US GP was just one of them.
Guanyu Zhou
Sprint (Started: 15th, Finished: 16th)
GP (Started: 12th, Finished: 13th)
Rating: 4.5
Not much different from what Bottas was doing at the 2023 F1 US GP. The car severely limits the drivers but the drivers haven't really shined much either.
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso
Sprint (Started: 12th, Finished: 13th)
GP (Started: Pitlane, Finished: DNF)
Rating: 7.5
Fernando Alonso could have scored a few points at the 2023 F1 US GP if not for the reliability issue.
The Spaniard did whatever he could with the car that was just not tuned to the track in any way.
Lance Stroll
Sprint (Started: 14th, Finished: DNF)
GP (Started: Pitlane, Finished: 7th)
Rating: 7
A better and more positive weekend for Lance Stroll. He got a decent points finish thanks to the double disqualification of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
More of this will certainly help his cause.
Haas F1
Kevin Magnussen
Sprint (Started: 17th, Finished: 18th)
GP (Started: Pitlane, Finished: 14th)
Rating: 5
An underwhelming weekend for Kevin Magnussen. The new upgrades have seemingly not done much and it was a weekend where the Danish driver could not make any mark.
Nico Hulkenberg
Sprint (Started: 16th, Finished: 15th)
GP (Started: Pitlane, Finished: 11th)
Rating: 6
One more disqualification or DNF in front of him and Nico Hulkenberg would have scored a point. The 2023 F1 US GP was not mightily impressive but the German was still able to do a decent enough job in the race.
AlphaTauri
Daniel Ricciardo
Sprint (Started: 10th, Finished: 12th)
GP (Started: 14th, Finished: 17th)
Rating: 6
Not the best of comebacks for Daniel Ricciardo in the 2023 F1 US GP. The driver was more or less on the pace of Yuki Tsunoda in qualifying.
The race pace as well as well as the race craft needs some work as the Australian lost a lot in that sequence.
Yuki Tsunoda
Sprint (Started: 19th, Finished: 14th)
GP (Started: 11th, Finished: 8th)
Rating: 8.5
Yuki Tsunoda was impressive yet again. Another sign of maybe questioning why Red Bull might need to look at him closely because the performance levels were impressive.
Williams
Alex Albon
Sprint (Started: 8th, Finished: 9th)
GP (Started: 15th, Finished: 9th)
Rating: 7.5
A points finish at the 2023 F1 US GP was a good result for Alex Albon. The driver did a decent enough job all race to keep himself in contention.
In the end, it was still an impressive race for the Williams driver and the DSQs helped him get points.
Logan Sargeant
Sprint (Started: 20th, Finished: 19th)
GP (Started: 16th, Finished: 10th )
Rating: 7
Logan Sargeant's best race of his career. Even if he hadn't scored points, the race was still impressive for the American as he was slowly closing down the gap to Albon in front of him.
Finishing the race at touching distance against his teammate was a triumph anyway but the point surely helped his confidence.
